I'm wondering if it can be done in a Leaf, Denver to Grand Junction and then back again. Yes I have looked on plugshare and it looks tight. Are there other charging options I'm not seeing, does anyone have experience?

^Do you have a place to charge in Grand Junction? There are no public charge stations so far as I am aware, just one private one that might be available and the one at the Marriot, for guests only. Otherwise you would need to bring a portable L2 EVSE and look for RV parks and hope that they are EV friendly.

I've certainly thought about trying to do it someday if the charging infrastructure ever improves. But not without my generator in the trunk in case something goes wrong with my plans.

That would be quite an adventure. If done during the summer when temps are warm you can take full advantage of the LEAF, but that's still a lot of climbing at highway speeds which will impact range. I agree with dgpcolorado to get a portable L2 EVSE (such as EVSEupgrade.com) with a selection of plugs for RV parks at least as a backup plan - and check in advance that the parks are functioning and have space. I'd also plan to keep the speed to 65 and lower - though for much of the route the limit is 75 - to extend range.

Plugshare shows a location with 2 J1772 Level 2 connectors in Idaho Springs, which would be a good place for a top-up, then nothing until Vail where there is a large number of them. That's about 65 miles which is possible but iffy at highway speed with lots of hills even with a new LEAF. If in doubt you could detour to Breckenridge where the town hall apparently has one. From Vail it's another 60+ miles to Glenwood Springs where 2 L2s apparently reside in a parking garage - and if in doubt you could stop at the CostCo in Eagle which has one plug. But after Glenwood Springs you'll need a plan B, such as an RV park, as it's almost 90 miles to Gd Jct where allegedly a Spring Hills hotel and a Solar company have some ports.

Of course, you can't rely on these locations listed on PlugShare being in operation and available, which is why you need the backup plan. You'd probably need at least 3, possibly 4 charging periods from start. It would be a fun trip if you planned some outdoors kind of stuff while waiting for the charges.

Unfortunately, all of those well-placed Tesla superchargers on this route can't be access by the LEAF.

Yah, I found all those spots on plugshare. And I agree, the section from Glenwood to Grand Junction is a tough one. I do have a portable L2 (EVSE upgrade), with some adapters so I'm good as long as I can find 240v. Feels like it must have been done already by somebody.. but maybe not.

Leafdom wrote:Yah, I found all those spots on plugshare. And I agree, the section from Glenwood to Grand Junction is a tough one. I do have a portable L2 (EVSE upgrade), with some adapters so I'm good as long as I can find 240v. Feels like it must have been done already by somebody.. but maybe not.

So I finally did the CO Springs to Breckenridge trip via I70. Easily doable as long as you're patient on the charger in Idaho springs which I was not. Hit LBW in Eisenhower tunnel and had to charge a bit in Frisco before heading into Breck.

Quick charged in highlands ranch both ways, that was the only needed stop on the way back.

Edit:More details of the trip:About 50 miles from my place to Highlands Ranch QC, got there with 58%, left 30min later at 98%.44 miles and ~3000ft elevation gain to Idaho Springs, got there with 49% and 4.2 mi/kwH - this included some slow going due to traffic.Left Idaho Springs with 65%, barely hit LBW at 16% in the tunnel. Got back to 22% by the bottom of the hill and 18% in Frisco. Charged to 27% and got to Breck with 11% - still have never hit VLBW! Somewhere around 3.2-3.7mi/kwh.On the way back, left breck with 100% but unbalanced, got to highlands ranch at 37% 93 miles later! Went the speed limit the whole way, other than 50-55 up the mountain. Hit the tunnel with 68% at that speed.Got home 149 miles total and 5.9 mi/kwh

Last edited by Nfuzzy on Sat Aug 08, 2015 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't try that trip in winter time but it was fun in good weather. Too hot really as I had to run the AC a good portion of the trip. Not sure if I'll do it again without another QC along I70 somewhere... hopefully we don't have to wait too long.

I'd like to do Pike's Peak sometime but I'm not sure when I'll have the time.